Stanley Tucci and Jessica Raine also lead the cast of the crime drama, which will be filmed in Iceland

Yes, that's right, a former Time Lord, Dumbledore and Sarah Lund from The Killing will be teaming up with an East End midwife to bring us a new crime drama from Sky Atlantic.

Christopher Eccleston, Michael Gambon, Sophie Grabol and Jessica Raine are set to join Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci in Fortitude, a new Sky Atlantic series charting a mysterious death in the Arctic Circle.

The 12-part series, which will be filmed in the UK and Iceland, will be set in Fortitude, "one of the safest towns on earth", where until now there has never been a violent crime. Tucci and Game of Thrones actor Richard Dormer will play the town's sheriff and a detective who are trying to make sense of a mysterious murder.

For once, Sophie Grabol won't be solving any crimes. Instead she'll play the town's Governor whose regeneration plans are scuppered by the murder. Former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston will play an English scientist and Jessica Raine has been cast as the wife of Fortitude's chief search and rescue pilot while Michael Gambon is set to star as a terminally ill wildlife photographer.

Director of Sky Entertainment channels Stuart Murphy said: "Set against the beauty of the Arctic landscape, [Fortitude] tells the story of an apparently idyllic community coming to terms with a murder at its heart. This will be cinematic drama on a grand scale with a cast of truly great actors."

Julia Barry, director of Sky Atlantic, added: "Our audience loves great, world-class story-telling and so Fortitude is a perfect fit for Sky Atlantic. We’re thrilled to welcome Stanley – in his first British television role – and the rest of this amazing group of actors to the channel."

Clash of the Titans' Luke Treadaway, Top Boy's Nicholas Pinnock and This is England's Johnny Harris will also star in series from Low Winter Sun's Simon Donald.